


A Vicious Cycle

by The_Pudgy_Ravkan



Category: The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Bicycles, Coffee, Flirting, Gen, Humor, Mal and Nikolai Bromanance, Marriage Proposal, Shopping, Singing, The Darkling is, The Proclaimers, Titles based on songs by, and so done, irriated, to old for this, traveling Ravka
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-27
Updated: 2017-03-02
Packaged: 2018-09-27 07:56:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9984098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Pudgy_Ravkan/pseuds/The_Pudgy_Ravkan
Summary: The words written in stark black ink weighed upon their minds and as they approached the humble white cabin. The cool air washed over them, chasing away the sticky summer heat, as they crossed the fresh hold of the small wooden building...Modern grisha au,P.S. Some of the tags only apply to later chapters.





	1. 500 Miles

**Author's Note:**

> This fic can be read in its own, however chapter two has references in it from another work of mine,'Alinas Culinary Adventures', so I might be worth reading that first.

 

 

The words written in stark black ink weighed upon their minds and as they approached the humble white cabin. The cool air washed over them, chasing away the sticky summer heat, as they crossed the fresh hold of the small wooden building. The group surveyed the sparse walls and empty reception desk, for a bicycle renting shop it was greatly lacking in the bike department.  
Seeing that there were no bikes left, the group decided to leave. Finally turning to exit the shop the way they had entered, they spotted two bikes leaning against the far wall behind the door that they had not noticed. The group stared on in displeasure.

 

 

"Dibs on the pink one!", Mal shouted in slight panic, rushing towards the bike.  
"I don't think so Mal, pink matches my outfit the best, obviously I should ride that one", Nikolai announced firmly, gesturing at his attire.  
"Nope, no your not", Alina stated frantically, "I'm not riding that thing with any of you, I'm taking the pink one".  
Alina stumbled forward, placing a firm grip on the purple handle bars of the pink bicycle and headed out of the shop, leaving the three men to sort out their ride. The Darkling stayed silent though out the transaction and instead choose to stare in horror at the bike before him. A three seat tandem bike.

 

 

Mal dragged his feet behind him as he approached the bike. Upon reaching the bike Mal swung his leg in a high arc over the handlebars and sat himself down on the second saddle from the front. With his face set in determination Mal started walking the bike out, clumsily swaying from side to side as he remained seated on the bike. Lumbering out the shop door to join Alina outside in the hot sun.

 

 

Reluctantly Nikolai and the Darkling left the shop and followed Mal outside, only have the sound of a giggling Alina and a smug looking Mal great them. With a confident stride Nikolai approached the back of the bike and sat down gracefully, wiggling his hips unnecessarily as got himself comfortable on the saddle.

 

 

"I'm ready", he announced giving Alina a cheesy wink. Alina raised the back of her hand to smother her giggle,  
"Come on Darkling", Mal taunted, smiling innocently while his eyes danced with mirth.  
"It's just a little cycle D", Mal chided, deliberately using a nickname to aggravate the Darkling further.  
"It won't be that bad, Darkling. Plus Alina was really looking forward to the trip and she would so really upset if we had to cancel because you won't ride on the bike with us", Nikolai added forlornly, a questionable wetness appearing in his eyes.  
"You would want Alina upset with you? Would you Darkling?", Mal asked casually.

 

 

The Darklings eyebrows pinched, his gaze came to rest on Alina who was happily plating the rainbow streamers on her handlebars. Alina looked up, completely oblivious to the conversation going on in front of her, and as her eyes meet the Darklings she flashed him a large goofy smile. Her eyes twinkling in the sun as she gave him a double thumbs up, then she turned to adjust her backpack before she started cycling slowly away.

 

 

When the Darkling turned back he was confronted with two faces feigning looks of confused innocence. With a heavy (internal) sign and a clenched jaw the Darkling mounted the front of the metal monstrosity and began to peddle after Alina, Mal and Nikolai doing the same.  
Cycling on the tandem bike was a painful endeavour, the three boys never managed to say in sync. The Darkling kept a steady pace throughout, however Mal and Nikolai where always cycling either to fast or to slow, making the wheels drag or over spin constantly.  
At one point the Darkling could have sworn one of them had accidentally started cycling backwards.

 

 

Alina was always a few meters in front, slowing down every so often to make conversation with three boys behind her.  
Mal and Nikolai kept up a steady stream of chatter behind the Darkling, letting Alina join in with their conversations whenever she cycled next to them. The Darkling, however remained stony faced and silent throughout.

 

 

They stopped for five minutes to get a drink from their bags and to take in the scenery. They'd stopped by a small church with beautiful stonewalls and sloping steps that came out as far as the road. Mal and Alina stood shoulder to shoulder over a map, Mal pointed to places they'd be passing and discussing the most visually appealing routes to take. Nikolai lay stretched across the cool marble steps like a cat, bathing in the warm from the sun. The Darkling sat at the base of the steps, with his water bottle held loosely in his hands, elbows resting comfortably just above his knees, looking down into the valley. Green fields broken by forests and thin rivers, small villages littered the landscape. Kribirsk was just visible from their spot on the hillside, the top of the Fold casting a ink black line on the horizon.

 

 

Once refreshed the small group got back on their bikes and headed down the hill and for the first time since they'd started the journey Mal and Nikolai cycled in tandem. It was short-lived however when the Darkling noticed a sluggishness to their cycling pace, the two boys behind him had quietened their boisterous chatter to a hushed mumble. Alina came to cycle alongside them once again, chirping happily to the Darkling about how beautiful Ravka looked in the summer light.

 

 

"When I was a mapmaker I used to love drawing Ravka in summer, all the different greens and the different colours in the sky each evening were amazing", Alina babbled. It was so hard for her to have a comfortable conversation with the man, it made it easier when the darkling didn't talk back and she was talking at the man rather than talking to him, so she continued.  
"I absolutely love the way the sun shines through the clouds, it looks like a spotlight! And you know how from up here you can see the shadow of the clouds on the fields? Well sometim/",

 

 

"When I wake up, well, I know I'm gonna be!  
I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next to youuu!", singing broke out from behind them, in perfect harmony no less. Alina broke out in a wide grin, while the Darklings facial features became pinched and cold. Mal had turned so that he could face Nikolai and was sitting cross legged and backwards on his saddle. Still singing he and Nikolai had started to preform the most outrageous mix between a shoulder dance and a clapping game. At this point the only one peddling was the Darkling.

"When I go out yeah I know I'm gonna be,  
I'm gonna be the man who goes along with youu.  
If I get drunk yes I know I'm gonna be,  
I'm gonna be the man who gets drunk next to you.  
And if I have to yeah I know I'm gonna be,  
I'm gonna be the man who's havering to youuuu.  
But I would walk 500 miles!,  
And I would walk 500 more!,  
Just to be the man that walked 1,000 miles!  
To fall down at your door!  
Da da datdah!, da da datdah!,  
Da da datdah!, da da datdah!,  
da da dundudun dududun dududun dun daaah!", Nikolai and Mal half singing half screaming in harmony. The Darkling directed his glare towards the road, while Alina was chapping, whooping and cheering alone from behind him.

 

 


	2. I'm On My Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a short break to refresh themselves, the group ends up splitting, what on earth will happen now?!

One hour and eight war ballads later the group had stopped on the outskirts of a small riverside town to take a break and decide which route to take next. Mal, Alina and Nikolai stood over the map discussing and gesturing at the most scenic tracks and nicest roads to take. Once they'd refreshed themselves with a quick drink from their water bottles, they picked a direction, packed up their backpacks and got ready to set off. Alina waited for the three boys to organise themselves, all the while her eyes were set longingly on the road ahead, her foot tapping and hopping off the peddle on the right side of her bike, impatient and eager to get going. Turning to look behind her at the tandem bike she made eye contact with Nikolai and raised a eyebrow in question, puzzled as to what was taking the boys so long.

 

"Mal needs to use the little boys room", Nikolai jeered in reply to her silent question.  
"Hey you were just saying how you needed to use it as well!", Mal exclaimed indignantly, founding his arms and pouting childishly at being made fun of. Aline giggled at their childish antics.  
"Ok that's fine, you guys go do your thing and I'll meet you in that village we were looking at just 30 miles outside Kribirsk.", Alina replied, relieved that it wasn't anything serious. The Darkling gave a mumbled grunt of displeasure and started dismounting the bike, so that her could follow the two men to the closest bathroom. Alina gave the Darkling a sympathetic look.  
"Hey, they'll only be a couple of minutes and you guys will probably catch up with me before I even reach the town," she consoled, trying to reassure him. The Darkling gave a disbelieving huff, turning to disappear into the town after Mal and Nikolai as Aline turned and cycled away.

 

Alina set off towards the small town outside Kribirsk, glad for the peace that accompanied her, brash singing abandoned in the village behind her. It was all down hill to the town and with nobody to talk to and no distractions to slow her down she'd be there in no time. However Alina did feel a minuet loss when 10 minutes later it was still silent and not a single off key song or note could be heard. She missed them.

 

The Darkling on the other hand, was ready to sacrifice his powers of darkness if it meant he could get even five minutes of silence. After almost an hour and a half spent in the bathroom, he was on the verge of chocking the two men to death with toilet paper. Once the two men had finished their business they then spent a whole 30 minutes extra in the bathroom making soap bombs and splashing water at one another using the sinks and after Nikolai spent 20 of those minutes redoing his soggy hair in the cracked bathroom mirror insisting that he fix Mals soaked hair as well, the Darkling was ready to decapitate them both using Nikolais fancy golden comb. 

 

With their hair finally fixed, Mal and Nikolai sprinted out of the bathroom like a pair of Spring lambs on steroids, The Darkling hauling himself behind them. He looked even gloomier than he did before, looking like a somewhat depressing shadow that trailed behind the blinding light of Mal and Nikolai, his cheek bones even more defined as he clenched his raw in frustration and irritation. The Darkling tried to herd the two men towards the tandem bike but alas, his efforts were futile as a small brightly coloured tourist shop caught the eyes of Nikolai and Mal. They disappeared through the doors and into the small group of people filling the shop front, escaping from the Darklings hands like two wet eels and with no other choice the Darkling was forced to follow the group of people containing the two boys into the shop.

 

The shop was bigger than it looked on the outside, the small tourist souvenir shop opening out then doubling inside as a grocery/department store, selling everything and anything anyone could possibly need. Mal and Nikolai sprinted out of the group of tourists and began sprinting in and out of the isles, searching each shelf, picking up different boxes and packets and showing them to one another. The Darkling stayed by a rack of magazines by the door, resigning himself to observing the two idiots with unimpressed limestone eyes. The Darkling reluctantly accepted the fact that he wasn't going to get the boys out and onto the bike anytime soon and instead began to browse the glossy magazines on the stands beside him to pass the time.

 

Mal and Nikolai found themselves grazing the mens hair products isle and after knocking several pots of hair gel of the shelves and reorganising the shampoo alphabetically they returned to where the Darkling was reading his magazine. With tracker stealth Mal crept up silently behind the Darkling and peered over his shoulder,  
"What'dya get?" He asked gesturing around the Darkling to point at the personality quiz on the page that was open in the his hands.

 

The Darklings jaw twitched at the question,  
"No one", he answered calmly, flipping the page over,"I was looking at/", the Darkling looked down to the page he'd turned to, only to find it covered in tall muscly men in tight nylon sport suits. The Darkling quickly shut the magazine and turned it over to display the cover, which read 'Mens Aerobics Weekly'. He tossed the glossy article back on the the self and turned to Mal, who was bright red with the strain of keeping in his laughter.

 

"What do you want Mal", the Darkling asked, voice laden with annoyance, his words more of a order than a question.  
"Hey don't get grouchy at me, you're free to look at what you like", Mal held his hands up in defence.  
"What does who like?", Nikolai inquired, sauntering away from the isles to join them, carrying a small bundle of different items in his arms.  
"The Darkling likes aerobic men", Mal slurred suggestively while leaning towards Nikolai, waggling his eyebrows. Nikolai smirked,  
"Are we your type, Darkling. Do we fit your preference?", he jeered, arranging himself into a ridiculous body builder pose, he started flexing his arms in a ridiculous manner. The Darkling rolled his eyes as the two boys started posing and contorting their muscles, all the while making growly man pouts in the Darklings direction.

 

"What did you want again?", he asked impatiently. Mal and Nikolai turned to the Darkling in confusion, suddenly a look of realisation crossed their faces as Nikolai held out the items in his hands.  
"Help us pay for these.", he pleaded, as he presented the items to the Darkling. (A tub of hair gel and lynx deodorant.)

 

"I'm not paying for those, why don't you go buy something practical", the Darkling suggested in exasperation.  
"Fine! We will!", they retaliated, then stomped away in unison. Mal and Nikolai ran off into the isles again, quickly disappearing into the many rows of products. 5 minutes later they returned with a box of crunchy chocolate cereal and a whole bunch of woman's products, including tampons.

 

"No", the Darkling stated simple, snatching the items from Mals hands and making his way through the shop to return the items.  
"Noooooooooooo!", Mal screamed lurching himself at the Darklings feet, holding on to the leg for dear life.  
"You can't take them! They're for Alina!", Mal wailed, as the Darkling dragged him along the floor. The Darkling stopped short and turned a questioning eye down towards Mal. Mal just wobbled his lip pathetically in reply. His gaze was then directed towards Nikolai who strode down the isle and handed the Darkling a list in Alina's handwriting. Clearly listing the items in the Darklings hands, all except the cereal. 

 

"The cereal's for us", Nikolai stated calmly, answering the Darklings unasked question.  
"Fine, I'll help you pay for them", the Darkling mumbled. Mal got up from his place on the floor and brushed down his front where it had been dragged through the dust and dirt on the ground. The Darkling, Nikolai and Mal made their way over to the checkout and placed their items on the counter. The check out appeared unattended and just as the boys were about to leave, a woman came through a door behind the counter.

 

She was young, bordering on adulthood, yet still striking. She was wearing fitted combat trousers and a pink blouse that showed off her curves and cleavage.  
"Can I help you?", she asked, the boys were two busy talking to one another to notice her question. She averted her gaze towards the items on the counter. She looked back at the men in confusion, it's not every day three men come in to buy womens products and cereal. Mal noticed her looking and gave an innocent shrug and gestured towards the items,  
"How much?", he inquired. She continued to hold his gaze as she answered, still puzzled by their unusual choice of items.

 

Mal and Nikolai both piled all their money from their pockets onto the counter top, Mal presenting a handful of copper coins, while Nikolai extracted a couple of silver ones, all in all it didn't amount to much. They both turned pleading looks to the Darkling, puppy dog eyes working full force to try break the Darklings resolve. The Darkling rolled his eyes at the idiots and reached into his pocket, he could feel the gold coins he kept in his pocket for emergencies but there was no way he was giving them that kind of money for some unexpected shopping. He continued the search in his pocket until he found some silver coins and placed them on the counter.

 

The girl eyed their coins splayed out on the surface in front of her. She looked up at them with a face set in stone and a hard glare that could rival even the Darklings on a good day,  
"You're a copper coin short", she stated flatly. Realising they weren't getting their goods with out the correct amount of money, the boys started frantically searching their clothes for the extra coin. Mal was halfway through taking his shoes off and shaking them out when Nikolai exclaimed an almighty,"ah", and ripped the ring off his finger.  
"The Lankstov family ring, that should definitely be enough", Nikolai chimed happily.  
"Sorry, we're a supermarket not an antique shop", she said smiling tightly.

 

Nikolais smile fell flat , luckily as Mal was pulling his shoes back on, a dusty glimmer caught his eye from under the counter. Male reached his arm under the counter, fingers searching blindly for the shinny object. When his fingers finally made contact with the cool metal he briskly snatched up the coin along with a handful of dust and slammed it down on the counters surface,  
"I've got the extra copper coin", he announced proudly, beaming at the girl. She gave him an odd look and gave him his items then disappeared back through the door she'd come through. Nikolai grabbed the items off of Mal and slid them into his open backpack and with that the boys headed back out to their bike and ready to start heading to the village to meet back up with Alina.  
A harmonised cover of 'I'm on my way' was sung joyously, the sound of music following them as they cycled away from the town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost finished now! Tell me what you think, if you see any mistakes feel free to point them out. Kudos, comments and creative critisisim appreciate!


	3. Letter From Beyond The Fold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally finished, hope you like it.

 

 

Meanwhile, in a town outside of Kribirsk, Alina sat at a small circular table outside a quaint little coffee shop, sipping at a sugary hazelnut tea as the sun warmed her face. Alina gave a contented sigh and let her eyes slip shut, sinking into the back of her comfy chair, muscles sated and stretched after the long cycle.  
After she reopened her eyes she let them rest on the other side of the busy street, irises drowsily scanning the faces of people walking to and fro, Alinas eyes suddenly went wide when she was greeted by a familiar face from across the road. A long sleeved grey Hanley was pulled tight across his bulging chest, sleeves rolled up to the elbow, making his biceps even more pronounced. A light sheen of sweat covered his forehead, his bronze hair sticking to his skin at the back of his neck. He dragged a fancy looking road-racing bike next to him with one hand as he sipped the straw of his slushy with the other.

 

"Hey stud-muffin!", Alina yelled, amusement and fondness coating her voice. The man startled at the sound of her voice, confused eyes searching his surroundings the source. Their eyes finally met.  
"Hiya starfish", Ivan greeted with a wave, face relaxing as he made his way across the street to the small table Alina was occupying. Ivan leant his bike against the back of seat opposite Alina, he then pulled out a bicycle padlock which he used to secure his expensive looking bike to the back of his chair.

 

Once the bike was securely chained to the chair Ivan turned to look down at Alina with a stern face,  
"You speak of this to no one, got that starfish?", he said, gesturing at his slushy in a treating manner.  
"My lips are sealed, stud-muffin. Can't have your all health diet reputation getting ruined", Alina joked back in reply, her arms raised in mock defence.

 

"Starfish?!",  
"Muffin?!",  
The harsh screams cased Ivan and Alina to jerk their heads in the direction of the yells, their eyes widening in panic as their secret nicknames for each other were shouted a load for anyone to hear. What their eyes found the source of the screams they were greeted with the sight of two extremely sweaty boys and one not so happy one. Mal and Nikolai both had looks of shock cloaking their faces, the Darkling just looked the same, if not slightly more unhappy than he was before, all three sets of eyes staring at the pair sitting at the table.

 

Alina rolled her eyes in a melodramatic manner, her pale neck and head rolling with the movement. She sent a glare that oozed an 'are you serious' vibe in their direction,  
"Myself and Ivan both go to a cooking class together on weekends, stud-muffin and starfish are the nicknames we have for each other", Alina informed, clearing up all their assumptions immediately. However this new information still left the group of boys confused.

 

Mal was the first to break the silence that was starting to form between the group,  
"Alina, do you mean to tell me, that at least once a week, Ivan can be seen in oven mittens and apron decorating cupcakes!?", Mal asked elated at the idea.  
"What did you say?", Ivan ask as he raised a threatening hand in Mals direction, as if to strike him. Mal let out a high pitched 'mep' as he flinched and nearly tripped over the Darkling in his efforts to avoid the pretend hit.

 

"That's what I thought", Ivan sneered, not taking kindly to being made fun of. Nikolai just gave an amused, but regal, snort and sat himself down in one of the small white cafe chairs. Mal and Darkling followed, pulling chairs over from other tables for themselves as well.

 

Light conversation drifted between them as they waited for their coffees to come. The Darlings black coffee with 11 teaspoons of sugar was set down first, followed by Alina's new mug of milky, sugar filled hazelnut tea and Ivans thick black coffee. After setting down their drinks, the waitress eyed the unusual group that crowded the small table with an amused smile. As she turned to leave she made eye contact with Alina and made a suggestive expression, raising her eyebrows and gesturing her head towards the four attractive boys surrounding her. Alina blushed a deep scarlet and looked down towards her golden cup of tea, avoiding eye contact.

 

Mal's green tea and Nikolai's creamy latte came together, delivered by a stunning male waiter in tight red jeans, a white t-shirt and a small black apron. He placed the boys orders on the table, gave a cocky smirk, winked suductively at Ivan and left. A small spike of jealousy arose in the three other men, Alina nudged Ivan in the arm, bouncing her eyebrows in an obscene manner as she gestured suggestively after the waiter.

 

After they had finished their coffees the boys got up and started readying their bikes for the cycle ahead. While they were busy arguing over seating arrangements Alina cornered Ivan and after a lot of begging and pleading, convinced him into accompanying them for the rest of their cycle. They set their sights on Kribirsk, confident that they would reach the city before sunset. So with their limbs rested and their energy restored they would reach the city by late afternoon. As they cycled out of the town Alina chatted happily to Mal and Nikolai, with Ivan a silent shadow to her left.

 

On approaching a rapidly sloping hill Alina sped happily ahead and disappeared over the top of the hill, then down past the horizon.  
Once the boys view of the road was no longer obstructed by the peak of the hill they realised they could no longer see Alina. They were all slightly panicked, she was nowhere to be seen and it wasn't as though she had been out of their sight long enough to have completely vanished.

 

No one wanted to be the first to admit how concerned they were towards the disappearance of the girl. So they continued on, a tense silence hanging heavy over their heads. They all kept their eyes pealed, subtly scanning the ditches and hedges on the slight chance she had crashed and fallen over. On approaching Kribirsk a wave of welcomed relief washed over them when they caught sight of Alina's skimpy silhouette in the sunlight cascading from over the fold. The pink bike sparking slightly in the sun.

 

On closer inspection they could see she was engaged in what seemed to be a somewhat unwanted one sided conversation with a well built, well dressed man mounted on top of an eloquent white horse. They were mere meters away when Nikolai suddenly gasped and yelled from behind Mal, straight into his ear,  
"Vasily! You step away from her right now!",all the boys were suddenly on high alert, serving the situation, readying themselves to jump between Alina and Nikolai's sleazy brother, in case he try anything.

 

Vasily, however, was completely unaware of the angry shouts in the distance, leaning closer into Alina's personal space from atop his steed. Alina cringed and shied away from the cocky smile of the mounted scum-bag but he only seemed to slither closer, like so kind of snail. How he could impose upon her personal space so much without even dismounting his stallion, Alina would never know.  
"Why, hello Alina", Vasilys greeted, slurring her name in a ridiculous manner, eyeing her with little to no shame, eyes scanning up and down her body. He may not have touched her, but Alina felt violated.

 

"Hey Vasily", Alina mumbled, looking anywhere but the princes eyes.  
"What's a lovely young thing like you, doing on your own in a place like this?", he asked flirtatiously, Alina couldn't help thinking he sounded like a sick cat purring, oily, kinky and gross.  
"I have a little something for you.", Vasily slurred, he gave her a slutty lucid smile and reached slowly into his back pocket, after searching his pocket suggestively he finally produced a round pink lollipop with the words,"I'll be King, marry me", engraved into its sugar crystal surface in flowing cursive writing.  
Alina flinched backwards at the sight of the words on the candy, repelled and disgusted by the proposal, she replied by screaming,  
"The birds may sound pretty! But it's not for you they sing!".

 

Then she ran. As fast as her skinny legs could carry her, away from Vasily and into the streets of Kribirsk. Alina sprinted down the cobblestone high street, all the way down to the dark swirling edge of the Fold and with white light blazing from the palms of her hands and a gleeful wail, she leapt into the shadowy depths of the Unsea, the dark mass swallowing her tiny figure whole.

 

 

 

 

 

After Alina's disappearance:

The Darkling, Mal and Nikolai stared on in awe frozen in shock. While Vasily stayed seated on his horse, gawking slack jawed after Alina, as he spluttered looking very much like a choking fish.  
Mal was the first to move, dismounting the saddle of his bike and set his backpack down on the leather of the seat. Opening the the bag, he reached in and routed around for a second before producing a small flashlight. With the flashlight gripped firmly in his hands, he slowly crept towards the convulsing black edge of the Fold and then with over exaggerated leg movement began tiptoeing into swirling ebony mass of the Unsea. All the while humming the mission impossible theme tune under his breath as he flick his pocket torch on and off to the rhythm of the song.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Creative criticism, comments and kudos are appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> This work is almost finished, so I will be posting the other chapters sometime over the next few days.  
> Tell me what you think! Kudos, comments and creative critisisim appreciate!


End file.
